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Comment by arp242 | Hacker News Reader

> it's disturbingly easy to sneak up on a lone pedestrian at night and give them a scare when you announce that you're passing them on the left. I'm a rather large male, and recognize I can strike an imposing figure, and hated scaring people like this. I took up whistling whilst riding near people at night just so they could know that I was there.

This is also a thing with these electric scooters and such.

It's just the speed difference that can really surprise you; I'm "scared" by that. I had this just yesterday where a kid passed me on a narrow footpath. I wouldn't have minded to step aside, but I do need to know they're there.

Really should have a bell. I don't know how that would work on a unicycle though.

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I have a standard bike bell mounted to the back of my seat post. It took a bit of practice to be able to find the lever while riding, but it works quite well, and has helped me avoid more than a few collisions.

That's a really good idea! I could also see one being mounted under the front of the seat being a convenient place to reach -- but maybe just a handheld bell (maybe one that strapped to ones' fingers?) would be best.

I've seen bells for skaters made with a metal or plastic ring you can pass through your finger. They'd probably work just as well for a unicyclist.

(In related news, Firefox's built-in spellcheck doesn't include "unicyclist" but Chrome's does.)

> Firefox's built-in spellcheck doesn't include "unicyclist" but Chrome's does

It does in the British English dictionary, but it's not recognized in the en-US one. I had assumed they would both use the same dictionary, but maybe not(?)

There are a lot of words like colour, centre, realise, etc that aren’t spelled the same so having separate dictionaries makes sense

Yes, obviously, but it's mostly the same and you'd expect the bulk to be shared.

> but I do need to know they're there.

You may /want/ to, but you categorically do not /need/ to. I'm going to get by you on my bike faster than you will notice and react, and if I'm moving anywhere near commute speeds, I will have to holler against the wind, and pray you move predictably.

It's vastly safer for both of us (although perhaps startling for you) if I move through your reaction zone quickly enough to avoid you unpredictably leaping into the collision zone.

You may /want/ to zoom past, but you categorically do not /need/ to. You can slow down, so as not to holler against the wind, say something like "on your left", and be courteously about your way.

Also, feel free to use the roads and bike lanes that exist for your pleasure rather than putting yourself through the emotional angst of lamenting the negativity you've put on however many poor pedestrians per day.

If you're sharing a space with pedestrians and moving at speeds that defy their reaction times, you're rude at best and dangerous at worst - take that vehicle on the road!

As a pedestrian, even saying "On your left" doesn't actually mean anything to me.

I'm going to turn around and look, because I can't tell which way is left in less than a second, then jump in a random direction in an absolute panic.

There's also a chance I might move right in front of you because I decided to move instead of look and got the directions mixed up.

That's fair. It could be that cycling on college campus pathways was not the most efficient. In my case, there were no "roads" to get between campus buildings -- only winding sidewalks and grass.

Unicycles don't react to changes very well -- they're highly momentum-based, and bumps affect them much more than bicycles. Passing on the grass is possible, but difficult (especially with a 24" wheel like I used), and was often the source of wipeouts when I would attempt to go around a group of pedestrians that was taking up the entire path. Inevitably, this was a gaggle of cute girls, who would giggle as I faceplanted into the grass. Not my finest moment. But if nothing else, this should certainly cement the idea that I certainly didn't unicycle because it was "cool". :)

But it wasn't just pedestrians and unicycles on campus sidewalks -- bikes were extremely common, and pedestrians were used to getting out of the way of cyclists. It's generally that they just couldn't hear me coming.

Yeah, so I'm going to say this squarely falls in the "don't be an ass" category.

Make yourself known, wait for the acknowledgement, pass at a reasonable speed.

If you can't do that then wait for 20 seconds.

It's not hard.

I'm also going to say that "it's vastly safer" is nonsense your brain made up to self-justify your crummy behaviour.

It's a footpath. For pedestrians. To walk. I don't mind if people use it for other things, within reason, but not with this attitude.

And look, people misjudge these sort of things all the time. I've almost certainly done that myself on occasion. It happens. But when you intentionally do it, and try to justify it ... it should be obvious I'm not especially impressed by that.

Who are you to require pedestrians to only move about "predictably"? Pedestrians don't expect anything fast behind them approaching at crushing speed*, and might ultimately decide to move or do random things because of a million different reasons you cannot know. If you at least somehow make pedestrians aware that you're coming, they can either get out of the way (I wouldn't, who are you to dictate me to scatter on a pedestrian way) or make an effort to move in a straight line.

> and pray you move predictably.

You even admit it yourself. In traffic one generally cannot take unnecessary chances with other people's safety.

*: it's very different in most other activities, I admit. When I ski, I have to be intensely aware of anything rowdies behind me might be doing so we can be safe when they zip by by less than two meters. A similar reasoning is probably at play here, but wide carving turns on easy slopes are still best reserved for early mornings or weekdays. Well-disciplined short turns look good too :)

You are most likely not completely silent, and you likely have lighting.

It is quite likely that I will notice when you're 10ft behind because of any small mechanical creak or rock you ran over or such, or because I was looking over my shoulder.

I will quite possibly then panic and jump in a random direction and maybe get us both killed.

I don't have any training or script to follow for that. I'll respond the only way I know how, like as if I just heard machine guns and bombs behind me.

Bicyclists tend to assume others have their spatial processing and just naturally know what to do.

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